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Lark Sparrows at Castle Rock EBRP
Elizabeth Leite <eleite@...>
A mid-morning walk through Castle Rock Park into Diablo Foothills was quite productive. We had excellent close-in views of a small flock of Lark Sparrows in bright plumage as well as three species of warblers -Black-throated Gray, Yellow, and Townsend's, and a relaxed viewing of a Peregrine Falcon pair hunting above and perching near us. The sparrows were on the grassy area south of the pool complex and the warblers were beyond the dry reservoir on the left of the trail in the blackberry and thistle area. The thistles were a mass of Lesser Goldfinches.
Elizabeth Leite Walnut Creek |
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Re: NOT a Short-eared Owl at CoyoteHills,9/5
Srikant Char
Thanks Ken, i indeed stand corrected. It is a Northern Harrier, and not Short-eared Owl. Sorry for the churn -Srikant |
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Short-eared Owl at CoyoteHills,9/5
Srikant Char
I believe i ran into BobDunn's 9/2 sighting of the Short-eared Owl, quietly perched on log in field, left off of Patterson Rd/Tuibun Trail, returning from Quarry Staging Area. It was fading light with gates closing at 7pm (now), and this beautiful white-brown bird stood out against the green grass. Lifer for me ofcourse! checklist with a couple of avg pics; https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48322543 Srikant Char Discovery Bay |
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Least Tern, Meeker Slough
Alan Krakauer
Around mid-day I made a stop at Meeker Slough. The best bird was a single Least Tern foraging near the old pier south of the slough. At one point it settled on the gravel on on the inland side of the channel. It looked so tiny next near the single Caspian tern.
Full ebird list: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48313435 After Meeker I made a quick stop at Creekside Park but there wasn’t much going on while I was there. Cheers, Alan Krakauer Richmond, CA |
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Point Pinole Rose-breasted Grosbeak 9/4
Jeff Hoppes
Yesterday (Tuesday, September 4th) I birded Point Pinole Regional Park, following up on Robert Raffel's eBird report of an immature male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The grosbeak continued Tuesday afternoon just after 4 pm, first in the ornamental plantings by the group campsite, then in the fennel patch just to the south, and then up into the eucalyptus canopy along the paved road (where I lost contact with the bird). In flight, the bird's bright red-pink underwing was obviously visible. Trail map and directions for Point Pinole can be found here: http://www.ebparks.org/parks/pt_pinole/ Good birding, Jeff Hoppes Richmond |
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Frank's Dump
Bob Richmond
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Baird"s Sandpiper
Bob Richmond
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Walnut Creek birds Labor Day
rosita94598
We could not find any W. Tanagers, but we did finally find a few Yellow Warblers in Heather Farm Park this morning. They were at the north end of the park, high above the ditch near the bridge over the Contra Costa Canal. A Great Blue Heron flew in and landed on the island, two Green Herons were present and a Great Egret flew around, too. We missed the Black-crowned Night-Heron seen by some others, but Fred Safier had a Snowy Egret in the concrete channel of Walnut Creek west of the Seven Hills School.
Several Barn Swallows and a single Violet-green Swallow are still around. Lots of Bushtits continue to be seen, sometimes as many as 25. The White-breasted Nuthatches are also very active these days. A Killdeer was also on the north ball fields today. Last evening, in our patio north of the park, Rosita and I watched a female Selasphorus hummingbird feeding in our patio. Just a few minutes ago today, it showed, again. Last night, too, we had a Caspian Tern fly overhead to the north, presumably returning to somewhere following an evening feeding at the park's large, mostly natural pond. Hugh B. Harvey Walnut Creek |
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Black-and-white warbler
Madeline Brane
Sorry...i think it’s black-throated grey warbler.
Just saw a black-and-white warbler at the bird bath behind the Mitchell Canyon Visitors Center in Clayton. Madeline Brane |
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Black-and-white warbler
Madeline Brane
Just saw a black-and-white warbler at the bird bath behind the Mitchell Canyon Visitors Center in Clayton.
Madeline Brane |
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Coyote Hills (9/2) - Pectoral Sandpiper
This (9/2/2018) afternoon at 4:50 (high tide), I found a juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper on No Name Trail where it merges with pond 4A levee (37.546439, -122.102000). This is 1/2 out to the bay on No Name Trail from the pump station. A photo of the bird can be seen here: There were 30+ Brown Pelicans feeding in pond 7. I also saw at least 8 White-tailed Kites along the park main road between the kiosk and Quarry Staging area parking lot. Here is the complete eBird checklist: Happy Birding, Jerry Ting Fremont |
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Coyote Hills (9/2) - Pectoral Sandpiper
This (9/2/2018) afternoon at 4:50 (high tide), I found a juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper on No Name Trail where the pond N4A levee merges with it (37.546439, -122.102000). This is 1/2 mile out to the bay from the pump station. Photo of the PESA can be seen here: There were also 30+ Brown Pelicans feeding in pond 7. Also saw at least 8 White-tailed Kites along the park main road from the kiosk to Quarry Parking area. Here is the complete eBird checklist: Happy Birding, Jerry Ting Fremont |
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Rails and Alameda Shorebirds
Elizabeth Leite <eleite@...>
Yesterday morning (9/1) we had the opportunity to observe with excellent views four different Ridgway's Rails at Arrowhead Marsh during a bird walk organized by East Bay Nature in Walnut Creek. Along with the more common shorebirds I identified two yellowlegs and four dowitchers. In both cases I don't know which species.
Afterwards (around 10:30AM) Dal and I proceeded to Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary on the Alameda bay shore where we were treated to large flocks of Elegant Terns and Semipalmated Plovers in addition to a few molting Black-bellied Plovers and the expected Willets, godwits, curlews, and sandpipers. Elizabeth Leite |
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Willow Flycatcher at Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland, 9/1
Judith Dunham
It's not what we were expecting . . . A friend from out of town and I birded Arrowhead. Just before we left earlier in the afternoon today, we spotted a WILLOW FLYCATCHER working the coyote bush, mallow, and other shrubs in the last parking lot at the shoreline, on the side closest to the restroom with the platform above it.
That it was a lifer for him was surprising, especially given the high number on his ABA list. Nice to help someone with a nemesis bird! Judith Dunham Berkeley, CA |
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Coyote Hills (9/1) - Purple Martin
This (9/1/2018) morning around 8:50, I got a Purple Martin flying high with Violet-green and Barn Swallows seen and photographed in lawn/picnic area west of nectar garden. I was not aware of getting a shot of it until I got home downloaded the images and looked at the book. It's an immature with dark throat, pale brown/grayish breast with faint streaks, pale brown/grayish undertail covert and long dark wings. Much bigger than the Violet-green Swallow flew nearby. Photo can be seen in my eBird checklist below: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48218171 Happy Birding, Jerry Ting Fremont |
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Spotted Sandpiper at Lake Temescal
Robert Firehock
A 'rare' stray at Lake Temescal. As best I can discern from eBird, first reported as seen there in 2009, then once again in 2013 but not since. It was feeding along the water at the edge of the beach around 10 AM. Pigeons and a couple mallards were around the shallows and water's edge as well. Photo to be posted on eBird shortly. |
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Walnut Creek birds Saturday September 1
rosita94598
In Heather Farm Park this morning, we continued to see Yellow Warblers, a Western Tanager, maybe two, and most of the expected species. The Northern Shovelers and two female Green-winged Teals seem to have looked for another location. Two Violet-green Swallows were on a wire toward the equestrian area parking lot. An Anna's Hummingbird was doing a courtship-like display and popped its tail at the bottom of the dive. In our patio at home just north of the park, we had two Juncos in this morning and an Oak Titmouse, while yesterday we had an adult CA Towhee feeding a fledgling. Hugh B. Harvey Walnut Creek |
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Interesting empid at Cesar Chavez Park
Noah Arthur
Jack Hayden and I birded Creekside Park and Cesar Chavez Park today (Aug. 31st), and found flycatchers everywhere. We started with three WILLOW FLYCATCHERS at Creekside (but no redstart). At Cesar Chavez we encountered an interesting Empidonax at the northwest corner of the big patch of trees/shrubbery just north of the end of Spinnaker Way. This bird resembled Pacific-slope overall, but the tail seemed short and small, and it has a broad black “kinglet bar” along the bases of the folded secondaries (below the lower wing-bar). These features seem wrong for Pacific-slope to me, but I’m none too good with empid ID... Here’s a back of camera photo on my Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1224254704381366&id=100003905452178&ref=bookmarks Noah Arthur (Oakland) |
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White tailed kites - 3 chicks on nest, Oakland Hills
Wendy Parfrey
Hello,
I've been watching a pair of kites since April and I might have missed their first brood of the season, but now I have a front row seat (with a scope at my front door) of three active, healthy hatchlings. Not sure how old they are, maybe 1-2 weeks, lots of down feathers but all three are stretching wings and eating like there is no tomorrow. Both parents provide incoming voles all day long probably from Sibley grasslands and the chicks are very well behaved, waiting for their turn and not stealing food out of each other's mouths.
I assume this is a second brood for the kites, so late in the season.
Along with the bumper crop of passerine fledglings around my native garden this year, now there are white tailed kites, too.
More happy birding, Wendy Colton at Heartwood |
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Wildcat Black-throated Gray Warbler
Sheila Dickie
Yesterday afternoon August 30 round about 3:30 p.m. a Black-throated Gray Warbler was seen foraging with a few Chestnut-backed Chickadees along Wildcat Creek Trail at the intersection with the Bonita Trail. The location is at the Richmond end of Wildcat Canyon. Entrance off Park Avenue which is off McBryde. A quiet day up the main trail. Other birds seen included Spotted Towhee and in the twin trunked Cypress on the left just past the intersection with the Belgum Trail a Red-breasted Nuthatch and a Pacific Coast Flycatcher. The tree is often a magnet for mixed flocks. As I walked back through the parking lot an Acorn Woodpecker flew overhead and landed in a eucalyptus tree. There have been Acorn Woodpeckers in that location for a number of years; not many but a consistent few.
Sheila Dickie Richmond |
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